Grouping interviews together?

[CalmrThanURDude]

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I'm a current college senior planning on working for a year before applying to med school, so I'll be going through the secondary/interview process the fall after I graduate. The way things are shaping up, it's looking like I may have the opportunity to work oversees in a health/bio related capacity. As a result, I was wondering how much flexibility one has in scheduling the timing of interviews, since if I did take a job abroad, I would obviously have to fly back to the states for them. I plan on applying to a decent number of schools (at least 15), mostly centered in the mid-atlantic and northeast, but also to a few cali schools, and possibly a couple others in different regions. My stats are such that I can reasonably hope for a fair number of interviews.

Is there any chance I would be able to group all of my interviews into, say, a 3 week period? If not that, would two somewhat shorter periods be sufficient to fit several interviews? Finally, if I could somehow work out a way to spend the first six months working in the states, and then the following six months abroad, when could I expect my last interviews to be?

I should add that I realize that other things besides the interviews (sending and recieving secondaries, getting in touch with schools, etc.) would be significantly more difficult to do from outside the US, but those are all factors I'd have to weigh against the benefits of a cool/impressive/stimulating experience working in an exotic locale.

 

[Mutterkuchen]

The year after I graduated college I too worked abroad with a couple of Americans. One of them did go home for a week or two to do interviews, and was accepted to Pitt amongst others.

That being said, I think that it would be difficult to manage this process while living overseas. Maybe some schools could accomodate you, but you would not physically be able to give 100% effort since you are not in the US to tend to issues such as interviewing.

If you application is strong enough, I would suggest applying EDP, and visiting the US only once. If you get it, great! If not, take another year off. You could do some fun things in the year in the States and could make a little money.

Good luck in your opportunity overseas. It will be worthwhile, I assure you.

 

[Exene]

First of all, I love your username. That's my favorite scene of my all-time favorite movie. You rock!

Second, I'd like to point out that since schools all seem to be on such different schedules, delaying your interviews at one school while your wait for offers from others could hurt your chances for admission at the school that interviews earlier in the cycle. Right now, some schools (this I heard on SDN, so maybe it's not the MOST reliable information) have already filled more than half of their classes, and some schools haven't yet offered many interviews at all. So keep rolling admissions in mind.
Also, I tried to pressure a couple of NC schools to hurry on up with either rejecting me or offering me an interview as I will be flying to NC next month. To no avail- they were very uncooperative, and I may just have to fly to NC more than once.

That said, I definitely think your plan is doable, and you still stand a good chance at admission. 8-year-olds, dude.

 

[wazupshah]

I was in Japan last year, and I chose not to play the whole admissions game from abroad......But I had a good friend in China - where she applied from last year, did all her interviews on a trip back, and is now in med school. Medical College of Charleston.

It sucks for me b/c now I'm stuck with this extra year on my hands, where I'm pretty much just applying. I think if you're not planning on applying to a large number of schools, then go for it!

If I had to do it again, I would have applied from Japan.

 

[CalmrThanURDude]

I thought I'd shamelessly bring this post back to the top, just in case anyone else has some input on the issue.

I took the MCAT the august after my sophomore year, so if I wait two years to apply, my score will be too old for at least 3 or 4 of the schools to which I want to apply. As a result, applying to one school early decision and then taking a second year off if I don't get in isn't really something I'm considering; my dilemma is more or less between working for a year stateside and working for a year abroad.

What exactly is the normal time period for interviews (after submitting AMCAS early in june and secondaries as soon as possilbe)? I'm having trouble deciphering the interview date thread.

Oh, and Exene treats objects like women.

 

[Veilside]

Originally posted by CalmrThanURDude

What exactly is the normal time period for interviews (after submitting AMCAS early in june and secondaries as soon as possilbe)? I'm having trouble deciphering the interview date thread.

the problem is that you can never anticipate the dates you will be invited for interviews. if you apply to a lot of schools, chances are that you will be interviewing throughout the process, from fall to spring. take me for instance, i submitted my amcas in july, finished most of my secondaries in august and september. i have gotten many interviews, but i still haven't heard from a lot of schools where my files were complete in september. some schools might invite you for an interview two weeks after your file's complete, and other schoosl two months or even longer.